


Playwright Fate

by track_04



Category: Johnny's Entertainment, Kanjani8 (Band), NewS (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Alternate Universe - Space, Bandits & Outlaws, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-07-09
Updated: 2011-07-09
Packaged: 2017-11-14 17:51:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 15,405
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/517922
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/track_04/pseuds/track_04
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Life in space is interesting, to say the least. With people like Yoko around, it's just bound to get even more interesting.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [yey_yey](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=yey_yey).



> Written for 2011's je_otherworlds. Inspired by _Jason and the Argonauts_ and _Firefly_. Title taken from the [I Blame Coco song](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnv9O0PJ8bI&feature=youtu.be) of the same name. Extra special thanks to moogle_tey for her always excellent beta skills and ability to keep me in line and to everyone else who listened to me ramble while I was working on this.

It began, like most truly epic tales, with nothing. No cataclysmic event, no life changing revelation, no declarations of undying love or fealty. There was nothing that really even hinted that anything was about to happen other than more of the same. No hero or villain to speak of or any injustice in the world that needed righting. No kidnappings of innocents or diabolical laughter or lofty proclamations by people who were probably a bit more brave than they were wise.

What there was, instead, was a lazy afternoon, a scuffed up pool table in a dark corner of a dive bar at the edge of the Universe, and a group of three ordinary-looking men wiling away their time over low brow beer and a game of cards. As situations went, it seemed altogether unremarkable. Average. Boring.

Of course, that meant that this particular card game was anything but unremarkable, average or boring, anything but _normal_. It was, in fact, one of the most important card games in recent history. And, naturally, most of the people huddled around that scuffed up pool table didn't even know it.

"I'll see that and raise you... 300." Of the three men seated around the table, Yamashita Tomohisa was the only one wearing anything approaching a poker face. To an outsider, he probably looked the part of a serious card player. To the other two men seated around the table, he just looked a bit bored.

Ryo swore softly and folded his hand, throwing the cards face down on the table. "I'm out."

"Told you if you can't run with the big boys, you should just stay on the porch."

"Fuck you, Yoko."

"That an offer?" Yokoyama smirked, the expression lazy as he eyed his own hand, gaze drifting from his cards to Yamashita's face, then back again.

"You wish." Ryo scowled. "You got the money to call or are you going to sit here stalling all night?"

"I've got something better." Yokoyama arched an eyebrow and met Yamashita's gaze across the table, ignoring the indignant huff that Ryo let out next to him.

"Better than 300 credits?" Ryo crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back in his chair. "The only thing better than 300 credits is _more_ than 300 credits."

Yamashita's expression shifted into something a bit more thoughtful. "What are you offering?"

"Are you kidding me--you're not actually falling for this, are you?"

"Now, now, Dokkun, it's time to let the grown-ups talk." Yokoyama smirked, making a show of stacking his cards and laying them on the table as he met Yamashita's eyes. "I'm offering a job."

"A job? We can get our own work, Yoko--"

"Let him talk." Yamashita's expression was still the same impassive, slightly bored one he'd been wearing for the last half hour, but there was something in the quirk of his lips that suddenly spoke of interest.

"I can see who's the brains here." Yoko winked and reached into his pocket, pulling out a battered looking data card. "One of my connections let me know the location of something that a lot of people have been looking for for a very long time. Something _I_ have been looking for for a very long time."

"You say that about everything you want." Ryo snorted and shook his head.

"This time is different." Yokoyama smiled slow and sharp, setting the data card on the table in front of him. "This time we're talking about the Golden F.L.I.S."

"The F.L.I.S.? Nice try, Yoko, but it disappeared during the last war. It probably got blown to space dust along with whatever ship was carrying it."

"Trust me, it's in one piece. And I know where it is. And I need you--" he pointed first at Yamashita then Ryo, his smile widening. "To pick it up for me. So, you win this hand, and I'll give you this data card with the coordinates of its current location."

"And why would you do that?" Yamashita frowned slightly, eyes drifting from Yoko's face to his cards, then back again.

"Because I want it, but I don't have a ship or a crew to get from here to where it is in time to pick it up. But you do."

"So you're going to bet a data chip with coordinates for something that you want us to pick up for you." Yamashita's frown deepened. "What's in it for us?"

"Half a million credits."

"Half a million--are you kidding me?" Ryo gaped at Yoko like he'd grown a second head.

"Only if you want me to be. But I don't think you do." Yoko picked up his cards again, smirking at Yamashita over the top of them. "Word has it you've been looking to go into business for yourself and get out from under your uncle's thumb. Half a million credits would go a long way to keeping that flying tin can you call a ship in the sky."

"If you wanted us to work a job for you, why didn't you just hire us?" Yamashita's gaze settled on the data card still resting on the table, waiting to be added to the pile of chips spread out between them.

"You're technically still under contract. I want to hire you, I have to go through your head office and, honestly, I hate those assholes." Yoko's smile widened. "This way all it is is a friendly bet between friends that you do in your down time."

"And what's to stop us from just keeping it for ourselves once we get it?"

"I happen to know you're honest, for one. Even if some of your crew members do like to talk big." Yoko snorted at the look that particular comment inspired on Ryo, like a little boy caught cuddling a kitten, flustered over being found out in such a blatant lapse of machismo. "For another, you don't have the connections that I have, and I doubt you'd know where to even start trying to sell it. So, it's either take the job, go pick it up for me and get half a million credits when you deliver it, or keep working crap jobs for Yamashita's uncle and hope that maybe you'll scrape together enough cash to buy yourself free of your contract before you're fifty."

Yokoyama paused just long enough to let the other two men share a look before he continued. "So, what do you say?"

Yamashita echoed Yoko's smile. "You'd better hurry up and call so we can finish this hand."

\--

Ryo had already managed to gather the rest of the crew by the time Yamashita stepped into the ship's Mess. It wasn't really that much of a feat, given there was a grand total of three other people who lived and worked aboard their ship, but it was a gesture he appreciated nonetheless. Despite all the bitching Ryo liked to do, he was always on top of things when it came to keeping the ship running smoothly. It was what made him such a good second in command and part of the reason that Yamashita kept him around.

The other part had to do with the fact that they'd been friends since they were just two snot nosed brats muddling through their very first jobs as gophers on a freight ship that was so full of holes he still wondered how he managed to never end up falling through one and taking an impromptu space walk.

It also didn't hurt that they genuinely liked each other. Then again, Yamashita didn't keep anyone on his crew that he didn't like. Any captain who was worth his salt at all knew that hiring someone you didn't like was the most sure fire way to let your ship go to hell.

"So, Captain, what's this about?" Tegoshi, predictably, didn't waste any time getting to the point, barely giving Yamashita time to get both feet through the door before he started in. Beside him, Masuda and Shige trailed off mid-conversation, turning toward Yamashita with their own questioning looks.

Yamashita stopped at the head of the table, ignoring the awkward tug in his gut that he still got when his crew looked to him for guidance, even years after he'd managed to prove to others and himself that he could make a decent leader. "We have a new job."

"Great. When does it start?" Tegoshi leaned forward a little, expression eager. Masuda and Shige's expressions were, not surprisingly, more reserved.

"Tomorrow."

"Tomorrow? What about the rest of our leave?" Shige frowned, either ignoring or not noticing the slightly annoyed look that Ryo threw his way.

"Technically, we'll still be on leave."

"What?" Shige's frown deepened. "They can't expect us to work and still dock our vacation time--"

"When did headquarters contact you?" Masuda cut Shige off, his voice soft and expression thoughtful. "I haven't flagged any messages from them for at least a week, and they always route their communications through the ship."

"They didn't."

"Wait... they didn't contact you? Then how do we have a job?"

"It's an off-book job." Tegoshi grinned and leaned back in his chair. "Right, Captain?"

Yamashita nodded, his expression carefully neutral.

"Who's it for, then?" Shige let his gaze slide over to Ryo, finally realizing how uncharacteristically quiet the other was being. "Or do I even want to ask."

"Probably not," Ryo muttered and Yamashita shot him a look.

"Yokoyama."

"Yokoyama Yu? The same Yokoyama Yu who did nothing but mess with us the entire last job we did for him? The job that was _above board_ and didn't put us at risk of losing our contract?" Shige turned a disbelieving look on their captain.

"He paid us on time and that job was a lot more interesting than making an equipment delivery to some backwater moon or hauling grain from one colony to the next," Tegoshi pointed out with a shrug and a slight smile. "I think it sounds like fun."

Shige ran a hand through his hair. "You think everything sounds like fun."

"There are a lot of things that I don't think sound like fun."

"Like obeying the law and actually doing your job? Yeah, I forgot about those."

"What's the job, Captain?" Masuda cut through whatever reply Tegoshi had to offer, his expression serious but not entirely disapproving.

"Picking up something for him on Colchis."

"Colchis? That's at least a week's worth of hard travel from here." Masuda frowned. "You really think we can make it there and back before our leave's up without headquarters knowing?"

"I think what you really want to ask," Ryo started, leaning forward and shooting the rest of the crew a knowing look, "is what could possibly be worth going all the way to Colchis to pick up."

Three sets of expectant eyes turned to Yamashita. He sighed and pulled out an empty chair beside Ryo, sliding into it before he answered. "The Golden F.L.I.S."

"Seriously?" Tegoshi leaned forward, his eyes lighting up. "This job just keeps getting better."

Masuda looked decidedly more wary, brows furrowed as he mulled the facts over. Beside him, Shige just looked confused. "What am I missing here? What is the Golden F.L.I.S.?"

"A data chip."

Tegoshi grinned and leaned forward, not bothering to give Shige a chance to ask before he started to elaborate. "Not just any data chip-- _the_ data chip. They say that it can hack any system you plug it into. It knows every language in the 'Verse, can make any ship practically invincible if you use it right. The wrong person got their hands on it and they could bring the Universe to its knees."

"... and we're going to get this and give it to _Yokoyama_?" Shige turned from one crewmate to another, looking for some sign that this was all an elaborate joke.

"He's the one who asked us to pick it up." Yamashita shrugged.

"We're really going to just hand over some mythical data chip to someone we should probably trust about as far as I can throw the ship?"

"I doubt he's going to keep it," Tegoshi pointed out, his voice thoughtful. "He'll probably just sell it to the highest black market bidder he can find."

"I'm officially objecting to this job."

"No one cares about your objections, Shige." Ryo rolled his eyes and leaned forward in his chair. "You object to everything."

"And if I didn't, we'd probably be in prison or working as junk smugglers in some back water galaxy."

Yamashita sighed and opened his mouth to cut off the answering rant he could see building in Ryo, but Masuda beat him to it. "Shige has a point. Is this job really worth the risks?"

"Yes," Yamashita answered without hesitation, his gaze moving from Masuda to Shige and back again. "Yokoyama's giving us a share of the profits."

"How much of a share?"

"Half a million credits."

"He's guaranteeing half a million credits before he even has any bids on it? How much is this thing worth?" Shige turned away from his glaring contest with Ryo to stare at Yamashita, wide-eyed.

Yamashita shrugged. "It's worth half a million credits to us, which is the only price that matters. So, who's in?"

Ryo and Tegoshi's hands immediately shot into the air and, after a long moment, Masuda's joined them, his expression a bit hesitant but firm. One by one, they all turned to stare at their lone hold out.

"What?" Shige frowned at them, his arms crossed over his chest defensively. "I still think it's a terrible idea."

"Like I said, you think everything is a bad idea."

"Ryo." Yamashita waited to be sure Ryo was going to keep his mouth shut before going on. "It's your choice, Shige. We're a team here--either every one's in or no one is."

"No pressure," Shige grumbled. "You really think this is a good idea, Captain?"

Yamashita shrugged, his face thoughtful. "I think if we do this job, we'll be able to buy out the contract on the ship and work for ourselves."

"Seriously?"

"If you guys still want to work with me."

Shige swore under his breath, letting his arms drop from around his chest and hesitating for a moment before he raised his hand slowly. "I'll probably end up regretting this, but fine, I'm in."

Yamashita smiled, the others echoing it with varying degrees of enthusiasm. "Then it looks like we've got a job to get ready for."

\--

The crew were all worn out by the time they reached the coordinates provided to them by Yokoyama, a tiny space port with a rundown warehouse on Colchis' third moon. The week's worth of hard travel, with only a brief stop at Dessus to pick up supplies and check in with one of Ryo's contacts, had done a lot to set every one's nerves on edge. Other than tempers being a bit shorter than usual, however, the trip had been surprisingly easy.

In hindsight, their first clue that things weren't what they seemed probably should have been just how trouble free the trip had been thus far. It was never a good sign when things were _too_ easy. Five years working together--and a more than healthy knowledge of what working with Yokoyama _legally_ , let alone illegally, was like--should have taught them all that by now. But apparently this time they had to wait for the evidence to smack them in the face.

And smack them in the face it did.

"What do you mean it's not here?"

"Just that--it's not here." The warehouse attendant--a short man with wild eyes and a nametag that read _Shibutani_ \--met Ryo's glare head-on without even flinching. Not that that was hard to do, considering Ryo was about 90% bark and only 10% bite, but he usually managed to be a bit more intimidating to people until they got to know him and figured that out.

"We were told it would be here." Yamashita was suddenly glad that he'd elected to have Tegoshi and Shige wait on the ship. Ryo was enough of a headache at the moment--he couldn't imagine that having Shige there pointing out that he'd been right about Yoko all along would help their situation.

"Then you were told wrong. Not my problem." The man shrugged, expression growing bored. "Now, if you'll kindly step aside so I can help the other customers waiting in line."

Yamashita, Ryo, and Masuda all turned to stare at the empty stretch of warehouse behind them in unison, turning back as one to give the attendant equally skeptical looks.

"There's no one here."

"Not yet. You probably scared them away with all the fuss you've been making." The man crossed his arms over his chest and gave them a defiant look.

"We really don't have time to waste on this. Do you know where it is or not?"

"Ryo." Yamashita held up his hand, sighing as he stared at the man over the length of the battered metal desk. "Yokoyama told us this is where we could pick up the cargo."

"That's your first problem, trusting someone like Yokoyama to give you all the facts."

"That little--"

Yamashita shot Ryo another warning look before turning his attention back to the matter at hand. "We're working a job for him. Why would he lie to us?"

"I didn't say he lied, I said he didn't give you all the facts." The man smirked. "And your second problem is expecting Yokoyama to just hand you everything you need to know on a platter. Where's the fun in that?"

"So we have to work for it?" Masuda finally broke his silence, earning him a surprised smile from the man behind the desk.

"That would be the idea, yes."

Masuda nodded, silent for a long moment before he lifted his gaze to meet the attendant's. "What do we have to do, then?"

"I thought you'd never ask." A sharp smile split the man's face as he turned, pulling open one of the desk drawers, drawing out a battered-looking envelope and tossing it down on the desk between them. "I think this might have some of the answers you're looking for."

"You just told us you didn't have the package."

"I said I didn't have the package you were looking for," the man corrected, holding up a hand and cutting Ryo off, ignoring the glare it earned him in return. "I didn't say that I didn't have _any_ packages for you."

Ryo opened his mouth like he wanted to protest and then, surprisingly, shut it. Yamashita wasn't sure if it was because he was pissed off enough that he couldn't express it properly or if the look the man behind the desk shot him was just crazy enough to shut him up.

Masuda was the one to move forward and pick up the envelope, finally, holding it up to read the messy writing scrawled across it with a slight frown. "This is from Yokoyama?"

"Like I said, Yokoyama's not known for giving all the details up front."

"Then what is this? A clue to where we're actually supposed to be?"

The man shrugged, leaning back in his chair and kicking his feet up on the desk. "You should probably open it up and see." Masuda moved to do just that after a quick nod from Yamashita and the man held his hand up with a soft tsking sound. "Not _here_. Take it back to your ship so you're not holding up the line for the rest of my customers."

Masuda, Ryo and Yamashita all shared a look and shrugged, turning in unison to head back the way they'd come.

\--

"I knew this was too good to be true."

"Yes, Shige, we heard you the first twenty times you said it."

"Apparently you didn't hear me when I said it before we started on this job, or we wouldn't be here," Shige mumbled, throwing a glare Ryo's way before he turned back to the data pad in front of him, punching in the coordinates Yoko had given them with more force than necessary. "Remind me why we're still choosing to trust Yokoyama again?"

"We don't have any other leads," Yamashita pointed out with a shrug.

"And why are we even still bothering with this job at all?"

"We came all the way out here. We might as well make it worth the trip," Tegoshi chimed in with a grin. Even after five years, Tegoshi's reactions still managed to amaze Yamashita sometimes. This time qualified, given how _excited_ Tegoshi had seemed when he'd found out that the F.L.I.S. wasn't available for easy pick-up. "Maybe it's somewhere in another galaxy."

"These coordinates are local." Shige sighed, ignoring Tegoshi's frown as he tapped the fingers of one hand against his knee, waiting for the computer to pinpoint an exact location.

"How local?"

"... very." Shige's fingers stilled and his eyes widened as it flashed across the screen. "They're on the planet."

"This planet?" Ryo watched Shige nod in response and perked up a little. "Great. We can have it and be out of here by morning, then."

"I doubt that, considering _where_ it is on the planet." Shige frowned and held up the data pad for the others to see. "Namely, right in the middle of the Governor's estate."

"That definitely makes it interesting." Tegoshi grinned. "That level of security should be a challenge."

"Only you would be happy about this." Ryo sighed and shared a look with Masuda, whose expression was caught somewhere between thoughtful and worried.

"Do you think we can actually pull this off, Captain?"

"It won't be easy, but I think so." Yamashita looked at his crew and nodded slowly. "Which means we should probably get to work."

\--

What they'd initially thought would be a night of hard research turned into two, then three, each seeming longer and more stressful than the last, as the lack of sleep and the sense of urgency over the deadline forced on them by their dwindling vacation time took their toll. If things didn't pan out here--and that was starting to look more and more likely--then they'd have to either haul ass to get to one of the inner galaxies before orders came down from headquarters, or at the very least think of a convincing cover story about why they'd felt the need to spend their vacation out on the edge of charted space. The area wasn't exactly a swinging hot spot for anyone who wasn't a settler or into smuggling.

Yamashita really didn't savor the idea of either, or of having to keep doing low paying grunt work for his uncle for the forseeable future, so he threw himself into figuring out a way to crack the security at the Governor's place and get what they needed without winding up in jail. Apparently his enthusiasm (or desperation, as some might call it) was contagious, given that the rest of the crew seemed to follow their captain's lead and threw themselves into finding a solution to their current predicament just as completely (albeit some with more complaining than others).

Sometime on the second night, when he was feeling particularly desperate and sleep-deprived, Yamashita even asked Masuda to send a quick message to Yoko in the off chance that the other man actually felt like being helpful. He wasn't holding his breath on the reply.

By the third night, he did what he could to convince the rest of the crew to head to their bunks at what passed for a decent hour, electing to at least give everyone else a chance to rest while he stayed up and continued to try to work things out. Not that it did much good when he was as tired as he was.

"Captain?"

Yamashita jumped a little and turned toward the voice, wondering how he'd managed to get so caught up that he hadn't even noticed someone sneak up behind him. "Masuda--wasn't expecting anyone to still be up."

"Sorry. Didn't mean to startle you."

"It's okay. Probably the first sign I need sleep."

Masuda sank into an empty chair with a soft chuckle. "I think we could all use some sleep right now."

"That's why I told everyone to turn in early," Yamashita agreed, slumping against his own chair with a sigh. "So why aren't you? Sleeping, that is."

"I thought I'd patch us into one of the smaller off planet satellites to boost our comm signal. In case anyone was having trouble getting through to us."

"Did it work?"

"I managed to boost the signal--"

"But no word from Yoko, right?"

"No word from Yoko." Masuda nodded, pulling out his data pad and punching in a few commands before he offered it to the other man. "But we did get a message. I think this one might be better."

Yamashita frowned, his expression shifting from confusion to disbelief to cautious optimism as he scrolled through the message on the screen. "These are the security specs for the Governor's mansion."

"Including schematics and keycodes for the side entrances."

"How did you find this?"

"I didn't. Like I said, we got a message. This was attached to it."

"Was there a name with the message?"

Masuda shook his head, frowning slightly. "Just the initial K."

Yamashita nodded, mirroring the other's expression. "Did they send anything else?"

"Just some coordinates and a date and time--tomorrow at noon."

"Sounds like they want to meet."

Masuda nodded. "Do you think it's safe?"

"Probably not." Yamashita scrolled through the message again before looking up with a small, uncertain smile. "We'll just have to be sure we're ready for anything they might throw at us."

Masuda nodded, offering a hesitant smile of his own. "I guess we've got work to do, then. Should I go wake the others?"

Yamashita nodded, scrubbing a hand over his face. After this was all over, if they managed to pull this off, he was going to give everyone another vacation and sleep for a week.

\--

The coordinates for the meeting place provided in the email turned out to be for the warehouse where they'd originally been sent by Yoko to pick up the F.L.I.S. Yamashita was sure this probably should have surprised him--and it did, at first, until he stopped to remember who they were working for and he remembered Yoko's sense of humor. Suddenly it all made a perfect sort of sense. Even when Yoko wasn't directly involved--and Yamashita still hadn't figured out if he had anything to do with the mysterious K or not--strange (and often mildly irritating) things were bound to happen.

They pulled into dock half an hour before the scheduled meet up and spent most of the extra time arming themselves and prepping the ship for a fast take off if needed.

By the time Yamashita climbed off the ship, Ryo trailing him by a few steps and slightly off to one side, he had enough weaponry hidden on his person to make him feel at least relatively safe, even walking into a situation that was probably a trap. The fact that Ryo was even more heavily armed--he was almost sure he'd seen the other man tucking blast grenades into the back of his belt when he thought no one was looking--didn't hurt, either.

Not that he was looking for a shoot out any time soon. He'd rather find out that the artillery was completely unnecessary and come out of this with some much needed information and without any bullet wounds. But he hadn't made it for this long as a captain with only relatively minor injuries to himself and his crew by failing to be cautious.

Beside him, Ryo seemed to be having similar thoughts if the way his eyes were scanning the space between them and the warehouse for potential threats and the tense set to his shoulders were any indication. As it turned out, he didn't have to look for long to find something that fit the bill, his hand coming up to grip Yamashita's arm when they'd barely managed to take two steps off the ship's ramp, stopping them both in their tracks.

Ryo had his gun out and had stepped in front of Yamashita before he had a chance to protest, aiming it at a shape tucked in between a set of rusted out storage containers, half-hidden by the shadows.

"Stay where you are."

"Don't you think that's a little melodramatic?"

"Not really." The sound of Ryo cocking his gun was almost deafening. "Who are you?"

"Just making a delivery." The form snorted softly and shifted. "So, can I come out of here and do my job without getting shot?"

"Ryo." Yamashita met the other's eyes and nodded once, sharp and quick. The stranger shifted in the shadows and made an impatient sound while Ryo slowly uncocked his gun and lowered it, not bothering to flip on the safety or tuck it back into the holster at his hip.

The stranger slid forward, smirking a little as he moved toward them, his eyes drifting to Ryo's pistol. "You have heard that it's never a good idea to shoot the messenger, right?"

"You're that dick from the warehouse."

The stranger--he was still wearing the nametag that read "Shibutani", so Yamashita was going to go with that being his name--arched an eyebrow and grinned, the expression not entirely friendly. "And you're those assholes who wasted my time. Small universe, isn't it?"

"So _you're_ K?"

"Of course not. Like I said, just making a delivery."

"For K?"

"That is who sent you here, isn't it? That would be the most logical conclusion."

"And why did he send you?"

"Convenience probably." Shibutani shrugged, holding out his hand to offer Yamashita a plain brown parcel. "And we have some mutual friends."

"Who, Yoko?"

"Maybe you should ask him about that." He smirked as Yamashita took the package from him, blatantly ignoring Ryo's scowl. "Now, if you're done with the interrogation, I really need to get back inside. Customers waiting and all that."

"Are you serious? You spout off a bunch of cryptic bullshit at us and then just want to leave?"

"That was the general idea, yes."

"It's fine, Ryo." Yamashita nodded at Shibutani and offered a slight smile. "You can go. Thanks for this."

"Anytime." He saluted and turned, leaving the other two men behind with wary expressions and a package that hopefully held some answers.

\--

"So we still have no idea who messaged us or sent this package?" Shige reached out, hand hovering over the contents of said package where they were splayed out across the table.

"It's gotta be someone on the inside." Tegoshi held up a pair of gold embossed invitations. "No one gets invites to a party at a government official's place without connections."

"Maybe," Yamashita agreed.

"I still don't know if we should just trust this. Someone we don't even know basically throws everything we need in our laps and doesn't ask for anything in return?"

"Hasn't asked for anything _yet_." Ryo mirrored Shige's frown. "As much as it pains me, I have to go with Shige on this one. This seems a bit too good to be true."

"We don't really have much else to go on," Masuda pointed out, earning a nod of agreement from Tegoshi and a shrug from Yamashita.

"He's right. It's either see where this goes or pack it up and go home."

"Yeah." Ryo sighed. "So, tell me about this brilliant plan to break into this party at the Governor's place with invites given to us by someone we've never even met again. Maybe it will sound less idiotic this time."

Yamashita snorted and pushed a stack of papers toward him. "That's about as far as we've gotten. Start reading so we can figure out more of the details."

Tegoshi flashed one of the invitations at him, grinning. "Did anyone else notice that one of these is for a woman?"

"That's it, I'm staying on the ship for this one," Ryo mumbled.

\--

"Captain, we have a call coming in."

"We're kind of in the middle of something right now--" Ryo answered Masuda before Yamashita got the chance, waving his hand to indicate the maps and schematics spread out across every available surface in the ship's Mess, piles of papers that only seemed to keep growing less and less organized as they tried to iron out a plan for getting into the Governor's mansion, getting the F.L.I.S. and getting back out again. Preferably alive.

"You'll want to take this one, Captain. It's from Yokoyama."

Yamashita looked up sharply, catching the half-shocked, half-annoyed look that Ryo threw his way out of the corner of his eye. "Put him through."

Masuda nodded, sliding around Yamashita and hitting the panel to open up the comm unit on the wall, fingers moving quickly over the keys as he patched the call through. The unit hissed to life and he stepped back to stand beside his crewmates, eyes fixed on the screen as it suddenly shifted into focus to show Yokoyama staring back at them, looking as smug as ever.

"Hey, if it isn't my favorite little space crew that could. How's it hanging?" Yokoyama's grin shifted into something closer to a smirk at the lack of answer that got him. His eyes drifted, obviously taking in the chaos that filled the room and the frazzled state of the men before him. "I'm sorry, did I interrupt some sort of Pow-wow? I can call back later--"

"If you hang up on us right now, so help me--"

"Always so feisty, Dokkun. What's got your panties in a twist?"

"You lied to us."

"I never lied to you. I just left out certain important facts."

"Yeah, thanks for that."

"Oh, come on. We all know that it had to be done." Yoko shrugged. "If I'd given you all the facts before you got there, you wouldn't have gone. And then you'd be down a job, and I'd have been stuck looking for someone else to hire, and it would have all been incredibly tedious and boring for everyone involved. You should be thanking me. This way you guys get a job _and_ an adventure at the same time."

"Yeah, I'll show you thanks--"

"Ryo." Yamashita shot his crewmate a warning look, sighing as he turned his attention back to the screen. "Are you calling to give us information or just to taunt us?"

"Yamashita, I'm wounded." Yamashita stared at the screen silently until Yoko rolled his eyes and continued. "Okay, fine. It was mostly so I could pull your pigtails. I already did the whole giving you information thing when I called in a favor with K."

"That was you?"

"What, you just thought some random stranger on planet knew who you were, what you were doing there, and just happened to have what you needed to know?"

"How were we supposed to know anything when you don't answer your damn calls?" Ryo shot back with a look that was half-irritation and half-pout.

"You know, I don't actually have to answer your calls." Yoko leaned in a bit closer. "When I hire someone, I expect them to do the job on their own and not come crying to me for help." He leaned back again, fingers reaching out to toy with something on his desk just off screen. "But here I am, helping you out _again_."

"Who the hell is K, anyway?"

"A friend, business associate, whatever you want to call it." Yoko waved his hand in a dismissive gesture. "What he's doing for you is more important than who he is."

"Do you trust this guy?"

"You even have to ask? I wouldn't have pointed him toward you guys if I didn't." Yoko paused, the smile slipping off his face, replaced for a split second by something much more serious. "I've got a soft spot for you lugheads. And I like to protect my investments."

"You really think we can pull this off?" It was Masuda who spoke up this time, his voice soft and serious.

"I wouldn't have hired you if I didn't." Yoko leaned back in his chair and sighed, nodding to himself like he'd just come to some sort of decision. "Well, it's been great chatting with you guys, but I've got very important things to do and _you've_ got a theft to perpetrate, so I guess I'll catch you on the flip side."

"Yoko--" Ryo started, his voice a low warning as Yoko leaned forward, one hand extended toward the side of the screen.

"Give me a shout when you've made it back to my neck of the 'Verse and I don't have to bother with a secure channel to call you anymore. This encryption is such a pain in the ass." Yoko grinned one last time, his face filling up the screen. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do, boys. That includes getting caught by the authorities."

Ryo swore under his breath as the screen went dead. Beside him, Yamashita and Masuda shared a look.

"At least we know this K guy is trustworthy now." Yamashita shrugged, ignoring Ryo's indignant snort.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Life in space is interesting, to say the least. With people like Yoko around it's just bound to get even more interesting.

The plan that they ultimately came up with after a full two days of intensive research and planning and the occasional inevitable butting of heads was far from a fool proof one. It basically went like this:

1\. Use the fake ident cards provided by K to sneak into the party.  
2\. Sneak away from said party and use the elevator (the location of which had also been provided by K) to sneak upstairs to where the F.L.I.S. was being stored.  
3\. Wait for Masuda to scramble the signal on the security feed and steal the F.L.I.S.  
4\. Meet up with the ship.  
5\. Don't get caught.

It was messy in places and relied more on luck and what probably amounted to a vast underestimation of the intelligence of the people they were up against than was wise, but it was, at least, better than what they'd had two days before. It was even something that they could probably pull off if all went well. Most of the crew seemed fairly willing to roll with it and even more determined to make it work.

Of course, that didn't mean that the same members of the crew hadn't, during preparation for the main event, expressed their concerns or misgivings. 

"Remind me why this has to be me again?" Shige sighed.

"Because you're expendable," Ryo offered, smirking as he waltzed over to where Tegoshi was cinching up Shige's corset with little regard for the other's protests about needing to be able to breathe.

"I'm the ship's Navigator."

"Like I said, expendable. The computer has a nav system for a reason."

Shige opened his mouth to argue just as Tegoshi gave the strings on his corset one last, vicious tug, forcing all the air from his lungs and leaving him able to do little more than glare.

"Anyway, you shouldn't be nervous. If you don't talk or look at any one, you might not fail miserably."

"Asshole," Shige wheezed, scowling at Ryo as the other man laid a thigh holster and miniature revolver on the table next to Tegoshi's make up brushes. 

Ryo smirked and turned to leave, pausing just inside the door. "Oh, and Shige--if you even _think_ about getting yourself killed while you're down there, I will come after you and shoot you in the face myself."

Shige snorted and rolled his eyes in answer, but felt the corners of his mouth twitching with the urge to smile. He waited until Ryo had disappeared out into the hallway until he turned to Tegoshi, the movement awkward as he struggled to figure out how to breathe with his lungs pushed up into his throat. "I still think you would have been better for this job." 

"Probably," Tegoshi agreed, reaching for the holster and strapping it to Shige's thigh, just above the lacy blue garter that he still couldn't figure out the necessity of. "But the captain wants to be able to make a fast escape if things go sour. Not really something you want to try without the ship's mechanic around to keep the engines in line."

Shige sighed and almost instantly regretted it. He was beginning to worry that if they did have to make a fast escape the captain would have to leave him behind; he could barely breathe in this thing, and that was without the dress that Tegoshi had waiting for him, some silk and taffeta monstrosity that looked like it weighed more than he did. How in the hell he was supposed to run or even move fast enough to make any sort of get away in all that was beyond him. "I still hate this plan."

"Cheer up, Shige." Tegoshi slipped the gun into the thigh holster for him and stood, grinning. Shige wondered what good a gun on his thigh was when he had six layers of dress to get through to get to it. "You get the exciting part of the job this time. How often does that happen?"

"Once too often, the way I see it," Shige grumbled and gave up on getting any sort of sympathy as Tegoshi just beamed back at him and guided him into a nearby empty chair before reaching for the nearest makeup brush. If he made it out of this alive, he was asking for a raise.

\--

Yamashita had seen the homes of government officials before, had even been inside a few of them, but he could easily say that none of them held a candle to the Colchian Governor's mansion. He'd already been around the perimeter while they were scouting things out the day before and he'd been over the plans and pictures they had enough to have them memorized, so he'd already had some idea of just how large the building was. Even so, walking through the front gates with his arm looped through Shige's, surrounded by what had to be every bureaucrat and wannabe debutante in that quadrant, the building and the grounds around it lit up like a Christmas Tree, he couldn't help but be in awe.

Impressive didn't even begin to cover it.

The way Shige stumbled to a halt next to him and tilted his head back, staring from beneath his false eyelashes at the stone and lights stretched up and up for what seemed like miles above them, he was pretty sure he wasn't the only one feeling that way.

"Please tell me that you think this is doable, Captain." Shige kept his voice low enough that hopefully none of the people moving past them would pick up on the fact that it was a bit too deep for the woman he was trying to pass himself off as.

"It's doable." It wasn't exactly a lie. Yamashita fully believed it was possible, or they wouldn't have even been here; he just doubted it was going to go off without a hitch.

Yamashita forced a smile and tightened his arm around Shige's, nudging the other to get him going before they started to attract the wrong kind of attention from other guests. "Come on, while the night's still young."

Shige nodded, falling into step beside him and managing by some miracle not to stumble over his heels.

The inside of the mansion was somehow twice as impressive as the outside. It made Yamashita feel like a tourist fresh off some back water planet and wandering around the big city, very obviously out of place. Even the ridiculously expensive suit and fake credentials tucked in his pocket, courtesy of their mysterious benefactor, weren't enough to make the feeling fade entirely. It was a bit like his first run in space all over again, fresh off planet side and in complete awe of everything around him. 

He breathed out slowly through his nose to steady himself as they stepped up to the end of the line, hoping that nothing he'd been thinking for the past few minutes had managed to slip through onto his face. He couldn't exactly expect Shige or the rest of the crew monitoring things back on the ship to keep their cool if he made it obvious that he wasn't doing such a great job of it, either.

"There are so many people here," Shige mumbled, the undercurrent of wonder in his voice overwhelming the nervousness for a moment. 

Yamashita nodded his silent agreement, eyes scanning the room and the people around them, trying to take in as much as he could without making his attention obvious. The slightly overwhelming scale of the building and the number of people waiting to make their way into the party aside, everything that he could see was matching up with the blueprints and specs K had sent them. That, if nothing else, was encouraging.

For being so long, the line to get into the party moved relatively quickly, a pretty impressive display of efficiency for an event this size. It was only a few minutes before Yamashita found himself standing just outside the security gates, holding out his and Shige's invitations and idents to a woman wearing too much eye make up and an obviously fake smile. She took the chips from them, the look on her face as she ran them through the scanner one of politely detached boredom, as if being surrounded by what probably amounted to the richest, most powerful people this side of Orion was an every day occurrence.

Then again, if she'd worked for the governor for long, it very well could have been.

"Welcome, Ambassador Arsene." Her voice and expression were politely indifferent as she read the name from the screen on her scanner, handing the cards back to Yamashita before offering a cursory tip of her head to Shige. "Madame Arsene."

Yamashita nodded back, mumbling something vague and polite in answer as he tucked the cards back into his pocket and lead Shige away. The other man waited until they were out of the entryway and the door attendant's hearing range to whisper, "I still wish he'd given us idents that were a bit more low key than an ambassador and his wife."

"An ambassador from Lemnos III."

"So?"

"Have you ever been to Lemnos III?"

"No."

"And do you know anyone who has?"

"No."

"Neither does anyone else."

Shige snorted softly and smiled a little to himself, following Yamashita's lead as they moved with the crowd toward the main ballroom. "Okay, I'll give you that one."

Yamashita smiled weakly in return and mumbled beneath his breath, "Keep your eyes peeled for security. We need to know where they are so we know which areas to avoid on the way out."

"Already on it, Captain," Shige mumbled back, forcing a smile as they slipped into the ball room, passing a middle aged man with a pot belly and a bad comb-over who didn't even try to hide the way he was eyeing Shige like a piece of meat. Shige gave him the dirtiest look he could muster until the man finally looked away. "How long before we can leave?"

"The governor should be taking the stage in a few minutes." Yamashita steered Shige through the crowd along the wall, doing his best to avoid anyone who looked like they might pay them too much attention. He offered the occasional smile and nod to the people they passed, but kept moving, careful never to pause in one place for too long and let anyone engage them in conversation. The last thing they needed was anyone cluing into the fact that they weren't who they said they were. Unlikely--he hadn't been exaggerating when he'd pointed out just how good a cover they had being from a backwater like Lemnos III--but it was still a risk he didn't really want to take.

They made a half circuit around the ballroom and drifted to the back, finally stopping in an area that was free of the thickest part of the crowd, but still gave them a good view of the stage. And, more importantly, the guards lined up around it. The fact that it gave them easy access to the back exit they needed to take to get where they were going for the next part of their plan made it damn near perfect. 

So far, so good.

They'd only been standing around pretending to make small talk while they kept on eye on the rest of the room for a few minutes when Yamashita's earpiece buzzed with a familiar voice.

"Captain, this is base checking in."

Yamashita reached for Shige's hand, making a show of lifting it to his lips to murmur into the mic hidden beneath the lace edging of his glove. "Copy that, base. How are things on your end, Masuda?"

"Good, Captain. We've got everything ready and waiting on your signal."

"Good." Yamashita met Shige's eyes over the back of his hand, waiting for the other's nod to show that he was listening. "We're still waiting for things to get started on this end."

"Roger that. I'll keep the line open."

"Thanks. Over and out." Yamashita lowered Shige's hand, glancing around them as surreptitiously as possible, eyeing the few people lingering around them, too caught up in their own conversations to pay them any attention. 

"Not long now." Shige nodded his head toward the stage and Yamashita turned, watching as security drifted in from their places along the wall and in the crowd, making a line in front of the stage and forcing the guests mingling around it to take a few steps back. The murmur from the crowd started to die down slowly and people pushed forward, trying to find the best vantage point.

Yamashita took the opportunity and urged Shige farther away from the center of the room until they were tucked behind a pillar a few feet away from the exit, just in time for the noise from the crowd to die down completely as the governor took the stage. Yamashita nodded to Shige, listening with half an ear and keeping an eye on the crowd as the other man lifted his hand to his mouth and whispered a quick update to Masuda. He didn't bother paying attention to the specifics of what the governor was saying--mostly basic platitudes thanking his guests for coming and reminding them how important each and every one of them were to him (and, no doubt, his upcoming campaign).

He waited until all of the crowd within his view had turned their attention to the stage before slipping back behind the pillar and looking to Shige. 

"Ready, Captain?"

Yamashita nodded, trailing Shige as he slipped out of the exit, the swishing of his skirts and the soft clack of his heels against the tile floor drowned out by the governor's droning voice and the crowd's polite laughter. The hallway fell silent as he shut the door behind him, the muffled sound of voices coming through the walls from the ballroom the only noise aside from their quiet breathing. He looked up and down the hall, turning to face Shige once he was sure it was empty and motioning to his right. "Elevator's that way."

"Lead the way," Shige mumbled, cursing softly as he gathered his skirts up in his fists and followed. The quiet was almost eerie the further they got from the ballroom, the emptiness of the space strange after the constant crush of people everywhere else they'd been in the building. It felt more like a museum after hours than a place that someone lived. Given the choice, he'd take the cramped quarters and constant engine noise of their ship over this any day.

They slipped down the corridor as quietly as possible, leaving the party and its noise farther and farther behind, until they stopped and rounded a corner to spot the elevator leading to the secure, mostly secret and definitely not public-friendly upper levels. Yamashita allowed himself a small smile in relief at the sight of it, quickening his pace. Shige apparently shared his excitement, the sharp click-clack of his heels picking up speed the closer they got.

They were only a few feet from the elevator doors and almost home free when they spotted the guards.

Yamashita barely bit back the curse he could feel bubbling up in his throat as he reached out and grabbed Shige's arms, stopping the other in his tracks. The other man stumbled a bit and turned toward him, eyes wide, while Yamashita leaned in and whispered a quick, "Just follow my lead," before the guards had a chance to spot them.

Shige offered a barely there nod in return, forcing his expression into some semblance of calm as Yamashita kept a hold of his arm and struggled to come up with a cover.

"You two--guests aren't allowed in this hall."

"Oh, I--Sorry." Yamashita pasted on the most non-threatening, slightly clueless smile that he could manage and turned it toward the guards. "My wife's not feeling well. One of the men working at the party told me I could take her to one of the side rooms to lie down, but we got a bit turned around. This place is a little bigger than we're used to."

Yamashita held his breath and tightened his grip on Shige's arm as the guards shared a look that wasn't exactly trusting, but wasn't out-and-out hostile, either. The first guard turned and eyed Shige. Yamashita was suddenly glad that the other man always looked like he wanted to hurl all over his boots when he was nervous. It made the part of the story about him being ill that much more convincing, anyway.

The first guard nodded at the second before moving closer. "Can we see your idents, Sir?"

"Iden--oh, yes." Yamashita let go of Shige's arm, hoping that the way the other swayed a little on his heels was just incredibly good acting or his usual lack of balance on his part, since him passing out for real, convincing as it might be, wasn't going to be any help. He made a show of patting down his pockets in search of the cards, fumbling a bit before he pulled them out and offered them with a nervous smile. "My wife always says that my sense of direction will get me in trouble one of these days. Hopefully today's not that day."

"Just standard procedure, sir." The guard pulled a reader out of his pocket and inserted Yamashita's card, his expression relaxing as he read the screen and turned it so the other guard could see. "You're a long way from Lemnos III, Ambassador."

"Tell me about it." Yamashita laughed and rubbed at the back of his neck. "I've never been much for travel, but when we got the governor's invitation it just seemed too good to pass up."

The guard handed their cards back and cracked a smile that was surprisingly friendly. "Well, I hope you've enjoyed your visit."

"We have." He took the cards back and tucked them into his pocket, reaching out to lay a hand on Shige's arm as he returned the guard's smile. "Sorry if we gave you guys any trouble. You wouldn't happen to be able to point is in the right direction, now, would you?"

"No trouble at all, sir," the second guard spoke up finally, throwing Shige a worried look. "Why don't you let us show you the way. It might be easier."

"I wouldn't want to be a bother--"

"It's no bother." Yamashita felt Shige's arm tense beneath his hand and turned to look at him, ducking his head on the pretense of checking on his wife's condition and giving himself a moment to gather his wits. He swallowed, trying to think of how to worm his way out of this one. The last thing he wanted was a pair of guards--well meaning, but still not in any well helpful to their actual reason for being here--trailing them. It didn't leave them with many options.

They could let the men lead them to whatever room they were talking about and then knock them out, but there was no guarantee the room would be empty or that no one would find them quickly and raise the alarm. They could take the chance and knock them out now, but there was no way of knowing that there weren't more guards close by doing rounds or that using a stunner wouldn't light up the building's warning system like a Christmas Tree. The security wasn't as tight as the upper floors, so the likelihood that the alarm was that advanced was minimal, but they hadn't really expected to see any guards in the hallway, either.

Yamashita shared a quick look with Shige before turning back to the guards, hoping the tightness in his voice came across as embarrassment over the situation and not desperation. "Are you sure? We wouldn't want to get you in trouble with your boss for leaving your post."

"The governor's guests are always our first priority, Ambassador. No need to worry."

Yamashita nodded and wondered if Masuda had managed to pick any of this up through the comm link. If he had, he or Tegoshi or Ryo were more than welcome to chime in through his earpiece with any helpful advice they might have to offer. "We appreciate it."

The first guard moved around them and the second motioned for them to follow with a slight smile. Yamashita made a show of sliding his arm around Shige's waist, throwing him a quick warning look that really wasn't necessary if the look he got in return was any indication. It was a small relief in an otherwise crappy situation and at least reaffirmed his choice to bring Shige along. 

They'd only gone a few steps when a man rounded the corner, nearly running into the first guard and throwing his hands up in surprise. "Oh--sorry! I didn't see you there."

"It's quite alright, sir." The guard nodded tersely and took a step back, giving Yamashita a full view of the large purple badge affixed to the front of the stranger's jacket that marked him as part of the governor's house staff. 

"This is actually perfect. I was looking for you, anyway."

"Is there an issue, sir?"

"No, I just need to find--" the stranger looked up, gaze landing on Yamashita and Shige like he was just noticing them for the first time, his eyes lighting up. "Oh, there you are!"

Yamashita looked around, half expecting to see that someone else had joined them. When he didn't see anyone but himself, Shige and the guards, he turned back to the stranger with a questioning look, not even trying to hide his confusion.

"I've been looking everywhere for you." He slid around the guard and reached out, offering an apologetic smile. "I realized after you left that I gave you the wrong directions. I'm very sorry, Ambassador." 

Yamashita eyed the stranger for a moment before returning his smile, still not quite sure what the hell was going on, but deciding playing along was probably the best option they had right now. "I thought maybe we'd just gotten turned around."

"No, no. You went where I told you." He lifted a hand and rubbed at the back of his neck, chuckling nervously and glancing at the guards. "Sorry for the trouble, guys. I can take it from here if you want to get back to your posts."

"Like we told the Ambassador, it's no trouble." The first guard shared a look with the second and gave Yamashita and Shige a terse nod. "But I'm sure you can handle this, so we'll leave you to it. Have a good evening. I hope you feel better soon, ma'am."

The second guard gave a nod and a smile that echoed the sentiment as the stranger smiled at Yamashita and Shige and motioned them down the hall, the sound of the guards' footsteps echoing down the empty corridor growing farther and farther away. A few feet down the hall the stranger came to an abrupt halt, raising a hand to his lips and motioning for them to stay put while he crept back to the corner and peered into the hallway behind them.

Yamashita took the opportunity to look at Shige. The other was looking about as shell-shocked as he felt--not that he could blame him, given just how badly things had gone up to this point.

"You okay?" Yamashita whispered, stealing a glance at their possible savior still peering carefully around the corner a few feet ahead of them.

"Yeah." Shige nodded, his voice an urgent whisper as he turned to face Yamashita. "Captain, who is--"

"It's all clear." Yamashita and Shige, much to their credit, managed not to jump as the stranger stepped back in front of them, grinning and keeping his voice low. "They'll be doing the second leg of their rounds now, so the elevator should be clear for the next half hour or so."

"Uh, thanks." Yamashita frowned and eyed the other man warily. "Look, I appreciate your help but... who _are_ you, exactly?"

"Koyama Keiichiro," the man answered, smiling and extending his hand. Yamashita took it automatically, shaking it as he struggled to place the name. His confusion must have shown on his face, because the stranger--Koyama--laughed softly and ended the handshake. "Don't worry, we haven't met before. I have sent you a few messages, though." 

Koyama extended his hand to Shige, who took it, eyes going suddenly wide. "Wait--messages. You're K?"

"That would be me." Koyama squinted at Shige's face before breaking out into a grin. "Wow, whoever did your makeup did a good job."

"Thanks. I think." 

Koyama dropped Shige's hand and nodded his head to indicate the hallway behind them. "I'll explain more as we go, but we should get to the elevator while we still can."

Yamashita and Shige both nodded in agreement, sharing a look as they followed Koyama back down the hallway toward the elevator. When they got there--the area now thankfully free of guards--Koyama pulled a key card identical to the one Shige had tucked into the bodice of his dress out of his pocket and waved it in front of the control panel. Yamashita arched an eyebrow as the lights beside it went from red to green and the doors slid open with a soft hiss. When they were all safely inside, Koyama repeated the process with the control panel along the front wall and hit the button for the sixth floor.

Once they were moving, he turned to them with an apologetic smile. "Sorry about the guards. This hallway was supposed to be clear tonight, but they decided to bump up security at the last minute."

"It's okay. You managed to save our asses back there." Yamashita frowned. "How did you know where to find us?"

"I was keeping an eye out for you while I was helping scan idents at the front so I could give you a head's up on the guards, but you guys were in someone else's line. By the time I could get to the ball room, you were already slipping out the exit, so I followed." His expression was sheepish as he looked from Yamashita to Shige and then back again. "And by the time I caught up with you, the guards had already spotted you. Luckily I got there in time to catch your cover story, so it made it a little easier to play along."

"We appreciate it," Shige broke in, his eyebrows drawn together in confusion. "But--why are you helping us again? Yoko told us you owed him, but this is pretty big just to be a favor to Yoko."

"Because if the F.L.I.S. ends up in the wrong hands, a lot of people will get hurt." The smile fell off Koyama's face, replaced by something much more serious. 

"And the governor is the wrong hands?"

"Wrong enough. I've worked here long enough to figure out that much." Koyama nodded, turning as the elevator ground to a halt and the doors slid open behind him. "Now, gentlemen, I believe we have a room to break into."

\--

The room holding the F.L.I.S. was surprisingly ordinary-looking. It looked like a million other offices that Yamashita had seen before; maybe a bit more high-end than was normal (but as much was expected for someone with a planetary government position, really), but nothing that screamed at you that someone was keeping what was probably one of the most sought after objects in the 'Verse hidden somewhere between its four walls.

Yamashita would have wondered about the governor's intelligence, keeping something so valuable in a place that looked like a five year old with a handheld could override the security, if he hadn't already seen the schematics for the entire building and this room in particular. It might have looked like your average office, but the amount of hidden high level tech covering almost every inch of the space made it anything but. That was the genius of it, though, really. No one looking at this room would think the governor had any more to hide than most politicians.

The door to the room was open, giving them a good view of the general layout while they waited just outside, giving Shige the chance to call back to the ship. Yamashita took the opportunity to eye Koyama and try to get a better read on him. He definitely didn't look shifty at all; from what little he'd seen, actually, he didn't look like the kind of person he'd expect to know--let alone work with--Yokoyama of all people.

Then again, _they_ were currently working with Yokoyama, so that was probably a moot point.

Koyama caught the other looking at him and smiled, the expression friendly, if a little nervous. "I know it must seem weird to you, a stranger helping you out of the blue."

"A little." Yamashita returned his smile, listening to Shige's mumbling behind them and the faint crackle of Masuda's voice in his earpiece. "But I think I understand why you are. We appreciate it."

"Well." Koyama's smile turned sheepish. "I may have to ask you to do me a favor in return and give me a lift when you leave. After the guards saw me and I used my card on the elevator, I don't know if I should really stick around to see if I still have a job tomorrow morning."

"As long as you don't mind coming along while we swing by and make the drop off with Yoko."

"There's nowhere I really need to be right away. I appreciate it."

Yamashita shrugged. "It's the least we can do."

"Okay--we're good to go," Shige broke in. "The encryption on the system was stronger than we thought, so Masuda can only give us fifteen minutes before everything comes back online."

Yamashita nodded and stepped forward, shoulders tense. "Let's not waste time, then."

The room, for all the security covering every inch of space under the flooring and up the walls and across the ceiling, was fairly simple to break into otherwise. Once you took out the tech, there was nothing about the layout of the room itself to really deter anyone from popping in and stealing whatever they wanted; the electronic safe they were looking for on the far wall behind the desk was hidden behind a thin wood panel, but it might as well have been in plain view for all the good that did. Yamashita had the feeling that even if they hadn't had the layout to this room memorized beforehand or Koyama along to help them, it wouldn't have taken much longer than a few minutes to find. And compared to a lot of people out there, they weren't even that good at the whole breaking and entering thing.

The lights flickered on as soon as they stepped through the doorway--apparently they weren't running on the same circuit as the security wiring, which was good to know--killing the need to use the flashlights that they'd brought along just in case and giving them at least one less thing to worry about. Yamashita didn't waste time dwelling on the fact, though. He crossed the office in a few quick strides and stopped in front of the wall, tapping on the correct panel behind the desk and waiting for it to slide upwards to reveal the safe underneath. It was more or less your average-looking safe, black steel plate door with a handle in the middle and a keypad built into the wall beside it, waiting for the appropriate code to open it.

Lucky for them, they had just the code it needed.

Yamashita stooped to get a better look at the keypad, taking a deep breath as he punched it in from memory. He could hear Shige and Koyama just behind him, their quiet breathing the only indication that there was anyone else in the room. He took a deep breath, hit enter and stood back, waiting for the telltale hiss of air signalling the locks releasing. A sound that never came.

"Do they usually take this long to open?" Shige took a step closer, staring at the safe door like he thought he could open it with the power of his mind alone.

"No." Yamashita frowned and typed the code into the keypad again, waiting for the sound of the locks releasing, only to be greeted by silence once more. He turned to Koyama. "Are you sure that code you sent us was the right one?"

"Yes, it was brand new. They changed it the day before I sent it to you--it's not due to be reset again for another week at least."

Yamashita tried the code one more time to similar results. "I think they changed it early." 

Shige swore beside them, throwing Yamashita a worried look. "Should I see if Masuda can find a way to crack it from the ship?"

"We've only got ten minutes left before the security kicks back on and there are guards crawling all over the place. I don't think he'd have enough time." Yamashita bit his lip and looked around, scanning the room for something, anything that might help. Maybe they'd get lucky and find the code conveniently written on the wall or carved into the ceiling.

Barring that, they could always find a way to blow the door open, but that was a sure fire way to send guards running to them whether the security was offline or not. Not really the route he wanted to go unless he absolutely had to.

"I think I can crack it."

Koyama urged Yamashita out of the way and took up his place at the keypad. 

Yamashita moved a few steps to the side and watched silently as Koyama pulled what looked like a utility knife out of his pocket and pried the cover off the keypad to expose a tangle of brightly colored wires beneath. He eyed them for a moment before detaching a few from the back of the keypad, pressing a few buttons and listening closely to the sounds they made.

"We're not going to have to worry about other people who want this thing coming after us when we get it, are we?" Shige broke the silence that had settled around them, the question escaping him in a rush, like it had just occurred to him and he needed to get it out there while he was still thinking of it. Yamashita gave him a look but didn't comment.

"No one else knows it's here," Koyama answered as he reattached a few of the wires and hit the keypad again, frowning and mumbling something to himself. "If they had, you guys wouldn't be the only ones trying to get your hands on it."

"Then how did Yoko find out?"

"I told him."

"How come you trust him so much?" Shige took a step closer, watching Koyama's fingers move over the buttons on the keypad in what looked to be a completely random way. "You know he's a criminal, right?"

"So are we, technically." Koyama paused just long enough to smile. "I trust Yoko because he's honest, mostly. But if you want details it's kind of a long story. We should probably save it for later."

"Fair enough," Shige mumbled as the safe door gave a soft hiss as the locks released and clicked open. 

"Bingo."

The three men shared a grin and Koyama pulled the safe door open, reaching inside and pulling out what looked like a perfectly normal, if a bit oddly colored, data chip. Yamashita held out a hand and Koyama dropped it in his palm without hesitation before he pushed the safe shut and slid the false cover back into place.

Shige stared at the tiny piece of plastic in Yamashita's hand for a moment before he shook himself a little and lifted his wrist to his mouth to signal the ship. "Base, we've got the item and we're ready for pick up." He pressed a hand against his ear, waiting a moment for the reply before he tried again. "Base, do you read me? Masuda?"

Yamashita listened to the crackle of static in his own earpiece and frowned, tucking the chip into the inner pocket of his coat and turning toward the door. "Whatever he did to scramble the security system must be blocking the signal." 

"You probably have a better shot signalling from a lower floor," Koyama suggested. 

Yamashita nodded. "We should get out of here anyway."

Koyama and Shige nodded, following him out the door and back into the hall silently. They made it out and to the elevator in less than half the time it had taken them to get there. Koyama swiped his card and Yamashita punched the button for the ground floor once they were all inside, resisting the urge to fidget as the doors closed. They had just over two minutes until the security system kicked back on by his estimation; in theory, they should have been safe now that they were out of the room, but he really didn't want to test that theory. He wasn't so sure something that high tech wouldn't still pick up on them--or the fact that they'd tampered with the key pad on the safe--even after they'd left.

Apparently Shige and Koyama were having similar thoughts, if the way they were both staring at the numbers above the door like they were trying to will them to move faster was any indication. They all remained silent for the ride, finally arriving back at the ground floor after what seemed like an eternity. The doors slid open and Yamashita stepped out, wondering how long they had before the guards made their rounds again. He had just enough time to turn and ask Koyama as much before a shout went up from the end of the hall.

"Hey--you there!"

The trio all turned toward the voice in unison, spotting the pair of guards from earlier just as one of them reached for the stunner in his belt.

"Shit. Run." Yamashita turned, shoving at Koyama and Shige's shoulders to get them moving, ignoring the shouts of the guards behind them. He could hear one of them running after them, but didn't dare to look back to see if he was gaining on them, too afraid that if he did he'd stumble.

"Follow me," Koyama yelled at them as he took a sharp left into a dimly lit side hallway, the sound of his footsteps echoing loudly.

Shige tried to follow him and slipped on his heels, nearly falling head-first into the wall before Yamashita managed to grab his arm and yank him into the hallway, half-dragging the other along with him. Koyama was a few feet ahead of them, but still close enough that he was easy enough to make out even in the poor lighting. Keeping his eyes fixed on the other's man back, Yamashita hissed at Shige with what little breath he wasn't using running, "Call the ship. Tell Masuda there's been a change of plans."

Shige nodded and lifted his hand to do just that. Yamashita could only manage to make out half of what was being said, too focused on keeping them both on their feet and not losing sight of Koyama to really do much else. His earpiece was buzzing with Masuda's voice, and even if he couldn't make out the words, the fact that the comm link was working again was really all he cared about. He could hear the guard behind them, too, his footsteps loud and a lot closer than was comfortable.

"Captain, they need to know where to pick us up." Shige had to repeat the question three times before Yamashita realized that the other was talking to him, finding it more and more difficult to split his attention between keeping track of Koyama, keeping them ahead of the guard and, well, much of anything, really.

Ahead of them, Koyama rounded a corner into another side hall and Yamashita followed, struggling for breath as he tugged Shige along beside him. "Tell them to track the signal on your comm link. They should be able to pin point us using that."

Either Shige didn't answer or Yamashita missed it, too focused on the sound of the guard's footsteps, now close enough that he was pretty sure all it would take was one stumble or misstep for him to close in on them completely. He picked up his pace as much as he could manage, forcing Shige along beside him. Ahead of them, Koyama disappeared through an open door and Yamashita followed him, turning his head just in time to see the guard less than a foot away and reaching out for them. He pushed Shige out of the way and through the door ahead of him, diving after him just in time for Koyama to slam it shut and lock it behind them, leaving the guard trapped on the other side.

Or, probably more accurately, them trapped on the inside. 

"Where are we?" Shige panted as he pulled himself up from the graceless heap he'd landed in, wincing a little and reaching out for the wall to help lever himself up.

"It's a storage room. They haven't gotten around to upgrading the wiring in this part of the building yet, so the door locks aren't linked into the main controls." Koyama reached for the keypad next to the door and ripped the cover off, yanking out the wiring inside and sending up a shower of sparks. "But just in case, that should buy us a few minutes."

Shige pushed away from the wall and moved closer to Yamashita's side. "Just please tell me there's a way to get out of here and get to the ship."

Koyama nodded and moved past them, leading them through the maze of dusty wooden crates stacked in haphazard rows and blocking a direct path from the entrance to the windows lining the far side of the room. "We should be able to get one of these open. They're all manual."

Shige stepped forward to try the nearest window, hand freezing in mid-air as he got a peek outside and turned a horrified look on Koyama. "That's gotta be a fifty foot drop out there. I thought we were on the ground floor!"

Yamashita moved forward to look outside and swore softly under his breath, the image of the building plans flashing through his mind. "This is the south side of the building, isn't it?"

"Yes."

"What's wrong with the south--" Shige groaned. "This is the side of the building that's built up against the cliff, isn't it?"

Koyama had the decency to look as nervous as Shige did as he stepped forward to start prying one of the windows open. "It was the best place I could think of. Your ship should be able to pick us up without having to land, and the only way they can get into this room is through that door."

As if to make a point, the guard and what probably amounted to a dozen or so of his buddies chose that moment to start yelling at them to open up, giving them all of a few seconds to answer before they started throwing their weight against the door with enough force to make the lights dangling from the ceiling at the front of the room sway.

Yamashita and Shige both looked at Koyama and moved forward to help him in his struggle with the window. They fought with the latch--and really, what kind of high profile building had windows this old and badly kept, even if it was a part that wasn't used much?--as the pounding behind them grew louder and more aggressive. The sound of the metal of the door slowly buckling beneath the onslaught only served to ramp up their sense of urgency, Koyama's hands visibly shaking as he finally managed to get the catch open.

"I really hope Ryo decided to take a short cut to get here," Shige mumbled as they all three pushed at the window and it popped open with a loud protest.

Yamashita couldn't make out the door behind them around the crates piled around the room, but he didn't need to to know the exact moment when the guards managed to break through, the sound of metal on metal loud enough that they all had to cover their ears.

"Masuda, you tell Ryo he'd better get his ass here _now_ ," Shige yelled into the mic on his wrist once the noise died down, only to be replaced by the sound of dozens of pairs of boots against the concrete floor. Yamashita might have actually laughed at Shige's expression if they weren't in the middle of a life or death situation that was looking more and more like it would end in death.

"Follow me." Koyama gave them both a wide eyed, frightened look before moving forward and putting one leg and then the other through the open window, clinging to the side of it as he found his footing on the ledge and then slid over to make room.

Shige looked ready to argue, but Yamashita ignored him and pushed him forward as the first guards' voices grew louder, judging by the sound of them no more than a few feet away, caught somewhere in the maze of crates behind them. Shige swore as he gathered up his skirts and slipped his foot out the window and onto the ledge, an arm and his other foot following as he tried to find a hold. With a bit of help from Koyama he managed, and Yamashita climbed out after him, making his way out the window just as the first guard came into view.

Out on the ledge it was dark and windy, the stone of the building cool and slick beneath Yamashita's fingers as he struggled to hold on, wholly unashamed of the fact that he was completely and totally terrified. If now wasn't the time for it, he didn't really know when would be. 

"Now what?" Even less than a foot away and yelling, Shige's voice was hard to make out over the sound of the wind. Yamashita tried to think of an answer that would be remotely reassuring and not something along the lines of "fuck if I know" and came up with nothing. He could hear Koyama doing it for him, yelling some sort of answer at Shige that got swallowed up in the wind before he could make it out.

One of the guards reached out through the window, trying to make a grab for Yamashita's leg, missing it by mere inches. He thought about kicking him for all of two seconds before he realized that it probably wasn't the best idea at the moment, given how much energy he was having to put into not falling off the ledge to his death. He opted for sliding a few inches over instead, crowding as close to Shige as he dared to get without risking both their balance.

The guard reappeared through the window and leaned out further to make another pass at him, his fingertips brushing against his pantleg. Yamashita was starting to reconsider kicking him in the face when the wind picked up and the rumble of a familiar set of engines drowned out everything else.

He turned his head as much as he dared in time to see to see their ship lowering itself down into view, stopping close enough to them that they could probably all lean over and kiss the hull if they wanted to. Before he had time to entertain the idea further, the hull slid open to reveal Masuda waiting for them, a gun in one hand and a worried, if determined, look on his face. Yamashita had just enough time to grin before the other man was moving to the end of the ramp and offering his hand, helping first Shige and then Koyama and then Yamashita off the ledge and onto the ship. They stumbled up into the bay, all looking dazed and happy to be alive, while Masuda closed the door behind them and hit the button on the comm unit in the corner. 

"They're all in, Ryo. Punch it!"

The ship lurched beneath them as it rose away from the building and climbed upward through the atmosphere, and Yamashita sank down to his knees on the floor beside Shige and Koyama, too grateful to not be a smear on the rocks beneath the Colchian governor's mansion to even care for once if he was setting a bad example for his crew.

"Are you alright?" Masuda was crouching beside him in the next instant, not bothering to even try to hide his concern as he eyed first Yamashita and then Shige. When his eyes settled on Koyama he frowned a little in confusion, but gave him the same worried once-over as his crewmates. "I'm sorry, but... who are you?"

"Koyama Keiichiro."

When the other didn't offer anything further Masuda turned to Yamashita, who shrugged and smiled weakly. "Long story--he saved our asses. We'll fill in the rest of the details on the way to meet Yoko."

Masuda frowned again and shrugged. "Fair enough."

Beside them, Shige burst into slightly hysterical laughter.

\--

The trip back to meet Yoko was, thankfully, as uneventful as the trip out to Colchis had been in the first place. The end of their vacation time officially came and went and Yamashita told his uncle in no uncertain terms that they were officially terminating their contract and striking out on their own. This was only after the rest of the crew told him--also in no uncertain terms--that they were sticking with him whether Yokoyama came through with their payment or not, and he'd better go ahead and get the company off their backs for good because they weren't changing their minds.

After an explanation of exactly what had happened, the rest of the crew welcomed Koyama onto the ship (some less reluctantly than others), and he settled into life on board surprisingly quickly. By the time they were pulling into dock to meet up with Yoko a week later, Tegoshi and Shige were already spending all their free time trying to plot ways to talk him into staying indefinitely. Yamashita smiled when he overheard them, but he made it a point not to let on that he knew.

The meeting with Yoko was, not surprisingly, both painful and enjoyable for everyone involved. It turned out that he and Koyama knew each other a bit better than either had let on, which only came out after Yokoyama talked them all into a night on the town that involved more alcohol than was wise and ended with Ryo trying to kiss each and every member of the crew (and Koyama, and eventually Yoko) on the walk back to the ship. The next morning he threatened the life of anyone who brought it up ever again.

Tegoshi waited two days before he showed them all the video footage he'd managed to take.

In the end, Yoko did get them their money for the job, along with a more than generous bonus tacked on with a smile and an offhanded comment that it was "hazard pay".

They left two days later with Koyama still with them. Yoko stood at the dock watching their taillights as they disappeared out of orbit, smiling knowingly to himself.

**Epilogue**

Yamashita stared out of the ship's view screen, smiling faintly to himself as he watched the stars drift past them. He'd always loved this time of night, when the rest of the crew were all either relaxing or in bed and everything was peaceful and safe. It reminded him why he'd wanted to get off planet and live his life drifting around in the stars in the first place.

The door was nearly silent as it opened behind him, as were the soft footsteps that followed, but it was enough to make Yamashita turn slightly in his chair, smiling as Koyama stopped a few feet away. "Couldn't sleep?"

Koyama shook his head, expression a little sheepish as he slid forward and took a seat in the empty seat beside him. "Actually, I was hoping to enjoy the view."

"It's a nice view," Yamashita agreed, leaning back in his chair a little and watching Koyama settle in out of the corner of his eye. He let the silence stretch out between them then, comfortable and somehow familiar.

It was only when he looked over to see the almost wistful look on Koyama's face as he stared out at the stars that he decided to risk breaking it. "So, what now?"

"What do you mean?"

Yamashita felt his lips spreading into a lazy smile at the clueless look Koyama gave him. "Any big plans? Places to go, people to see?"

"Oh... I don't know." Koyama turned to stare out at the empty stretch of space again, lips curling into a thoughtful smile. "I'd like to see my family, maybe stay with my sister and my nephews on Corinth for a bit. After that, I'm really not sure."

Yamashita hummed in agreement, tilting his head to show he was listening as he leaned forward, toying absently with the ship's controls.

"I'm definitely out of a job, so I should probably get another one of those." Koyama laughed, turning to watch Yamashita's hands. "Something not in government, preferably. Not that they'll be beating down my door after this."

"They do tend to frown on espionage."

Koyama snorted. "Yeah, I think I'll go for something a little more low key this time and hope they don't check my references."

Yamashita nodded and they fell into a comfortable silence, the faint hum of the ship's engines and the quiet tap-tap of Yamashita's fingers against the control panel the only sound between them. The moment stretched on until finally Yamashita stilled his fingers and lifted his head to stare out of the view screen again.

"You know this is a six man ship," he started, eyes still fixed on the space ahead of them and his expression carefully neutral. "I've never really found anyone I wanted to fill the final spot, but if we're going to be going into business on our own, it would be nice to have a full crew."

"What position are you hiring for?" Koyama leaned forward against the console and smiled, hesitant but hopeful. 

"That depends." Yamashita turned to Koyama and arched an eyebrow. "What can you do?"

Koyama grinned. "I'll write you a list."


End file.
